A Walk on Thessia
by Theodosius
Summary: Shepard and Liara have settled on the asari homeworld. This is a short story taking place after the defeat of the Reapers centering around the planet of Thessia and its wonders that Shepard begins to discover during a walk he has with Liara.


**A Walk on Thessia**

"I still don't understand why it had to be the top floor", Shepard grumbled.

"Oh, come on, Shepard, how many times are we going to have this conversation?", Liara sighed wearily.

"All I'm saying is that it can be dangerous", Shepard persisted in what was clearly a losing battle for him.

"Don't tell me that Commander Shepard, savior of the galaxy and vanquisher of the Reapers, is afraid of heights?", Liara teased light-heartedly.

"I'm not _afraid of heights_", he repeated the words sarcastically, though the thought did make his mouth twitch into a smile, something he tried to hide but ultimately failed, "These clouds can easily cause a skycar crash, or there could be an earthquake or something, or a descending ship might not see–"

"Shepard. Stop", Liara cut him off gently, a smile on her face, and walked to his side by the window he was next to, offering him a quick kiss before she continued, "You know this is a temporary solution until we get ourselves a house. These buildings have been standing intact for centuries and are designed to withstand collisions and accidents of the nature you describe. That's what the protective layers of mass effect fields installed on every apartment are for."

"I just want to know that you're safe here, Liara", Shepard replied with concern, putting his one arm around her waist and the other on her stomach, "You and the baby."

"You worry too much", Liara chuckled, placing her hand on his over her grown stomach as a result of her now five-month pregnancy.

"All of this is still new for me", Shepard reminded in his defense, "Our tallest building is the Alliance Tower back in New York, and I'd say that it's only about half in length compared to this one. And most of our skyscrapers don't have such protection."

"I know. All this might take a while to get used to", Liara agreed.

Shepard and Liara were standing next to one of the windows in their apartment in the city of Armali on Thessia, which was situated on the top floor of one of the planet's tallest skyscrapers. The thick cloud cover seen underneath the window looked as if it separated the building in half, and skycars from the upper levels frequently descended through it from the numerous apartment buildings similar to the one the couple lived in. At least half a dozen spires could be seen in the distance, some connected with bridges just above the clouds, with silhouettes of hundreds of vehicles flying from one to the other or appearing from underneath. These towers reached their peak just before what would otherwise be another cloud cover in the sky, which today, however, was mostly clear. It was a beautiful sight.

It reminded Shepard of the ancient Prothean city on Feros, though the towers here looked more glamorous, more regal – and they weren't imposing. Though, to be fair, he hadn't seen Feros in its full glory when he was there all those years ago.

Even though they were planning on moving to a house soon, Shepard, and mostly Liara, had already furnished the apartment to their liking. The hall they were in was spacious, with two big windows on either side, a kitchen that neither Shepard nor Liara used extensively, since they mostly either ate outside or ordered food, and a holographic monitor embedded on the wall on the other side, with a couch facing it. Most of the Prothean relics that Liara had she had brought with them, scattered around the apartment like decorations in display cases, and Shepard, on the other hand, had brought his collection of ship models and had it placed next to the wall. Of course, all of his medals were also there, which had dangerously grown in numbers since the defeat of the Reapers, and they were put in a display case of their own, per Liara's insistence.

"Would you like to have a walk, Shepard?", Liara broke the silence with the question and brought her bondmate back from his reverie, "I want to show you around this part of the city. As I told you, it's not far from where I grew up, and I know the area well."

"Of course", Shepard nodded, "It'd be a pleasure."

They turned around and walked past the hall door on the other side of the apartment, Shepard locking it with his omni-tool afterwards, and after going down a few steps they reached the elevator. The building had several of them for every few floors and they were put in glass capsules so that the people inside could enjoy the view around them. All lifts led to a specific garage in the skyscraper where residents kept their respective skycars for transport.

In the matter of mere seconds, Shepard and Liara were already getting out of the elevator to arrive at a garage full of vehicles and they headed towards their own skycar – it was of a common Thessian make, different than the ones people often used on the Citadel or Illium. It was larger and the upper half of it was completely transparent and it offered everyone inside a view towards the sky above, not just the driver. It was both a privilege and a safety measure since traffic in Armali was usually congested and because of the numerous spires scattered across its surface. Shepard headed for the driver's seat.

"Are you sure you want to drive, Shepard?", Liara asked teasingly, "I seem to have… fond memories of you driving on Illium."

"In my defense, I was chasing a rogue Spectre who dropped proximity mines every chance she got and sent trucks flying our way at every corner", Shepard defended himself in a mockingly hurt tone.

Their friendly banter continued as they entered the vehicle, Shepard settling himself on the driver's seat and Liara sitting down next to him. The former Commander sent a signal via the skycar's holographic interface to that level's garage door, and after a few seconds it opened, allowing them to go through.

"Follow the route to the Shalessian gardens", Liara instructed, and the skycar's onboard VI automatically set a course for the desired destination, making Shepard's job much easier for him.

As soon as the vehicle went past the cloud cover, a view of Thessia's surface was revealed, specifically the enormous territory of the Shalessian gardens that they were headed towards. They were of a very asymmetrical construction, with numerous paths randomly cutting off one garden from another, resulting in their variety of shapes as seen from above, some accompanied with fountains and lakes. The whole complex was part of a huge platform that was elevated above a much bigger body of water underneath.

"These look beautiful", Shepard commented as they descended.

"They are. There's so much history here – asari from the past have each left their mark on these grounds. It is a very important cultural heritage for us", Liara explained with excitement in her voice, "Thank the Goddess that the Reapers didn't touch this place."

The skycar's holographic interface prompted of a landing pad nearby that they then proceeded to go to. It was a platform raised above the gardens surrounding it. There was barely a spot for Shepard to land on with all the parked vehicles around.

Once they touched down, Shepard helped Liara up as he lent her a hand out of the car. She found it more and more difficult to get up as she entered the final stages of her pregnancy, but Shepard was always around to help her every step of the way.

With all the chores that they had back home that day, it was already late in the afternoon when they started their walk. The clouds had cleared, however, and now the sky bore a distinct purple color before sundown. The peaks of the tall skyscrapers of Thessia could be seen from beneath while Shepard and Liara took a stroll on one of the many paths through the Shalessian gardens, their hands intertwined as they did so.

"My mother often took me to these gardens", Liara reminisced joyfully while they walked, "We used to live close by. I remember how fascinated I was by the ruins here. I guess I have them to thank for my passion for archeology."

"Some of these look so ancient", Shepard regarded with interest several stone columns of asari writing in one of the gardens they were walking by, "It's hard not to be amazed by all of this."

"It's not too late for you to develop a habit of exploring dig sites and unearthing artifacts", Liara smiled at him expectantly.

"One step at a time, Liara", Shepard laughed mirthfully.

They continued their walk along the path until they came at a corner which revealed something nearby that got Liara's attention.

"Look at that, Shepard", Liara pointed excitedly at an old ruin of several wavy pillars of metal with numerous embedded insignias and a lot of alien script. They resembled a smaller version of the spire of a contemporary asari skyscraper. They were at the center of one of the gardens, which was full of a unique type of trees which had blossomed with perfectly identical purple colored leaves.

"What is that?", Shepard inquired with interest.

"These grounds used to be the site of a great asari monastery", Liara explained as she used her hand to display how far it encompassed, "This was the altar where the asari would go to seek guidance from Lucen. It was a little before we mastered space travel."

"What happened to it?", Shepard asked.

"For a brief time in our history, a rather shameful time, legends about the Ardat-Yakshi made a league of asari blindly worship them as the new goddesses of our time", Liara replied with apparent disapproval, "They opposed those who believed in Athame. It resulted in a civil war and this was one of the many places where these fanatics, brainwashed by their Ardat-Yakshi leaders, were led to attack their ancestors."

"Why would anyone worship an Ardat-Yakshi?", Shepard commented incredulously, "I've seen what they're capable of. Their condition is a defect."

"Asari of ancient times proved to have different worldviews at the time", Liara answered, "And the defect was something new and Ardat-Yakshi believed that they could use it to their advantage to deceive others into helping their cause, making them believe that they were a vision of the future asari in what would be a utopian society they would help achieve."

"Well, I guess that in the end they truly saw them for what they were", Shepard said as they continued their walk down the path, passing by the ruin that had brought up the subject of their conversation, as well as walking past a lot of other people – mostly couples like them, asari and alien alike. Humans on Thessia were a somewhat of a rarity, however.

"Of course, not all Ardat-Yakshi were like that", Liara continued, "Most admitted to having the defect and the idea of building secluded monasteries to prevent them from inflicting such horrors on other asari was brought up."

"I can't imagine that they were happy about that", Shepard suspected, not wanting to think about how he would feel if he was forced to a life in seclusion because of something he wasn't responsible for.

"No, but they knew that it's best for their people if they did as they were told", Liara sighed ruefully, "I don't like the idea of having a person's freedom taken away from them in such a way… It just seems so cruel… But I can understand why they felt it was necessary."

They continued down the path until coming to an intersection, where Shepard motioned for Liara to take the lead of their stroll across the still unfamiliar to him Shalessian gardens. They were truly beautiful – a gathering of Thessian trees and flowers, accompanied by ruins of the past and towering buildings of the future high in the sky. It was a blend of nature, history and unprecedented technology that somehow just fit. Earth had already focused solely on modern infrastructure at the expense of the natural environment, and while it had its fair share of sights, nowhere Shepard had been was quite as stunning as the view he was beholding now.

"It's amazing that all this survived the Reaper invasion", Shepard commented.

"Not everything did", Liara replied, "It took a lot of time to repair the damage done to the skyscrapers, but the northern hemisphere of Thessia and the city of Serrice was hit much worse. It'll be years before it's brought back to the way it was before."

As Shepard and Liara continued their stroll along the path, the gardens were hit by a soft, warm breeze, and suddenly the purple leaves of the Thessian trees around them started emanating a subtle blue light that was barely noticeable.

"Why are the trees glowing?", Shepard asked with suspicion.

"Oh, don't worry – this is quite normal", Liara assured, a soft chuckle escaping her mouth as she noticed Shepard's incredulous glare at the trees, "Because of the exposure of element zero, most of the plant life here has developed a defensive mechanism since they have absorbed the enormous quantities of dark energy as a result of the abundance of that resource on Thessia. They use biotics in response to certain stimuli from the environment to protect themselves – in this case, the wind."

"That's interesting. But can their defensive mechanism get out of hand and harm somebody?", Shepard pondered, now eyeing the trees up and down with awe after the revelation.

"It never has before. All the plants do is form a sort of a barrier around them when they need to. They do not release the energy any further than that", Liara answered.

The gardens made for an eerie atmosphere now that the trees stared giving off an enveloping blue color around the purple leaves, while the sun was slowly setting and the violet sky was darkening above in the meantime. Everything around them looked so peaceful, with some of the people walking by stopping to simply enjoy and relish the unique feeling.

"Here, let's sit down for a moment", Liara said, leading Shepard to what was an empty spot in the path by the garden railings when suddenly, upon approach, a bench from underneath raised itself as they closed in on it, slowly appearing out of the ground. Liara acted as if that was the most normal thing in the world, and Shepard realized that it was one of the many new things that he would need to get used to in the future. The whole planet was one big wonder.

As they sat on the newly emerged bench, their hands still intertwined, Liara and Shepard simply enjoyed the calmness and comfort of their surroundings, the peace that these gardens generously offered. The mere presence of the Thessian trees and the quiet rush of a nearby river in the distance was soothing.

"Look at them, Shepard", Liara happily nodded towards something in front of her. Shepard followed her gaze to an asari couple, a baby wrapped in the arms of one of them, both with affectionate smiles on their faces as they, too, simply rested on a bench on the opposite side of the path.

Liara elaborated, a wistful look on her face, "I don't know how it happened, but with the end of the war, people gradually started forgetting about the prejudice towards purebloods. The majority of them leave Thessia to get away from such injustice and explore the galaxy where people don't care that both of your parents are asari. But after so many got back to protect their home and died because of that… I… I don't know…"

"Liara, I'm sorry if you had to go through any of that", Shepard comforted Liara with concern, wrapping his hand around her with affection, "Those who think that way are close-minded and are _wrong_. It's good to see that they're coming to their senses."

"Thank you", Liara smiled at Shepard with relief, "It's… It's just comforting to see that more and more asari families no longer feel ashamed to show their love. There was rarely any violence before, but you could still get these… _looks_ from others who frown upon such things."

"If they do that to you, I'll give those people a look of my own", Shepard snarled threateningly, which to his surprise earned him a chuckle from Liara.

"It seems to me that you'll do more than just give them a look", the asari commented, giving Shepard a kiss on his cheek before adding merrily, "I don't think such drastic measures will be necessary, Shepard. Besides, everyone knows the man who led the galaxy to victory over the Reapers."

"And the woman without whom he couldn't do it", Shepard gave her a grin, then proceeded to softly kiss her on the lips as she briskly returned the sentiment. After their display of affection, Liara sighed contentedly and put her hand over her stomach, the couple staying in silence for a while.

"Who do you suppose our baby will take after more?", Liara suddenly asked curiously. Shepard took his time to think his answer through.

"I hope she'll be every bit like you", he eventually replied, smiling earnestly at his bondmate, a gesture she returned shyly, "But with my knack for causing trouble."

"You? Causing trouble?", Liara laughed incredulously.

"What's so funny about that?", Shepard asked indignantly, "I wasn't always saving the galaxy, Liara. Back when I was growing up on space ships, I used to wreak havoc – drove the crew insane with all kinds of mischievous plans. Almost had my parents kicked out for that."

"I'm sorry, Shepard, I just find that hard to imagine", Liara continued her series of giggles, "Well, in that case, be careful what you wish for, because we're going to be the ones that have to control her."

"You're right", Shepard chuckled himself, "But I think it'll be fun along the way, and I like a challenge. My mother would probably disagree, though."

Although their initial intention was to continue the walk, Shepard and Liara inadvertently decided to remain on the bench for a while until night soon came, slowly revealing a beautiful layer of bright stars and constellations in the sky. Most had a distinct orange color, which Shepard had been told was due to the fact that they were actually distant nebulae. He never ceased to be amazed by the stunning view despite having seen it a few times already. The sky being clear as it was that night was rare for Armali, and Shepard was glad that he was lucky enough to revel in it with the love of his life at his side.

"Incredible", Shepard simply said, his head leaning on Liara's at the back of the bench.

"It's even more beautiful from the High Plains of Janiri", Liara replied dreamily, her blue eyes conducting careful study of every star with excitement.

"Will you take me there someday?", Shepard asked with a hopeful tone, moving his head so that he could look back at Liara.

"Only if you take me to this Grand Canyon you couldn't stop talking about the other day", Liara answered teasingly.

"It's a deal", he nodded with approval, reaching out his hand for a businesslike handshake.

With each passing day, Shepard realized that he was quickly getting accustomed to living on Thessia. It was certainly a completely new experience than what he was used to, but it didn't take long for him to eventually feel more at home than he had ever been. That, however, was not due to the wondrous alien planet and the comfort it offered, but because of the person he would spend the rest of his life with.

**The End**


End file.
